Lions and Tigers
by WhiteMask22
Summary: Sometimes you find yourself in situations and you have no idea how you got there. Tomiko Rion is in such a position, as she finds herself pretending to be her twin brother Jiro Rion, who is really in America. To keep her brothers secret she ends up joining Serin's Basketball team as her extra-curricular activity!


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Waking up to the sound of an alarm is not something I relish. And yet, somehow I had managed to get myself into a situation where it had become a necessary commodity. There was just something extremely irritating about the devise, when at 7:30 every morning it let off with a blaring noise, reminding you, you were on a schedule and leaving you with a sense of urgency no matter how early you set the damn thing.

"Stupid Jiro." I muttered, as I entered the realm of the conscious, and attempted to slam my hand down on the snooze button, missing my mark completely in my sleep drunk stupor.

It had been weeks now since my twin brother Jiro had come to me, saying he was going to America to stay with one of his friends, and I had to cover for him at his new school, Seirin. At first I had thought it would be a great idea to try something different and get away from our nagging parents. But after doubling as him for his part time job, and having to get up so damn early, I was beginning to regret it. To add to it all, school was starting today.

Both Jiro and I had grown up rich, with people to tell us what to do, however my brother had decided he required a more adventurous life and no rules to bind him, hence his scheme to sneak to America. He'd convinced me, and our eccentric Aunt who lived in Hokkaido, to help him in his plans. While I cover for him at school, my Aunt covered for me. The three of us had spent weeks coming up with a nearly fool proof plan to tell out parents. I was pretending to study with my Aunt for the year. She even came up with weekly schedules that we did together, so if out parents asked, our stories matched. Sometimes the bizarreness of the situation reminded me of something I'd once seen in a movie. If Jiro hadn't told Mom and Dad about his enrolment in high school, he could have pretended to stay with our Aunt instead, and I wouldn't have had to wake up to an alarm beeping continuously in my ear every morning. Stupid Jiro.

I no longer could take listening to the racket my clock continued to produce. "Okay, okay!" I shouted angrily at the clock. "I'm awake! Happy? God you're worse then my mother, and that's saying something." I growled at it as I hit the 'off' button.

With the insufferable devise now silent, I crossed the room and looked at the calendar. This was the first day at school. Nausea hit me when I thought about it, and I started panicking about what would happen if someone figured out my lie. My father was an industrial tycoon, and my mother was a museum curator, and if someone found me out, it could turn into an absolute scandal that my family would never live down.

I shook my head; there was no time for worrying about it now, so I tried to convince myself it was an irrational fear. My co-workers who had known my brother hadn't figured me out, so why would people notice at a school id never been too? Turning, I walked over to my mirror and gave myself a confident nod to reassure myself, and went to prepare for the ordeal that called itself school.

After showering and making myself a pitiful breakfast, I went to begin the process of turning myself into a boy. This was the entire reason I had to get up so damn early. There was a lot of detail that I had to worry about. Everything counted, from the way I smelled to the way my wig was arranged. Then, of course, I had to disguise my figure with tension bandages.

By the time I pulled on Seirin's navy blue uniform and left my apartment, it was twenty to nine. Thankfully I lived close enough to school I could walk; so I started along the route I had scouted shortly after taking up my brothers persona.

When my brother had told me he was going to Seirin High, I had been generally surprised. Seirin was a new school, and had little reputation, but at least it was a private high school. Since Jiro had been tutored all his life, he had decides real experience was the best experience. Of course, in the end, he had decided not to go to school at all.

"Stupid Jiro." I muttered again.

But thoughts of my brother disappeared from my mind as I approached Seirin Private High School.

The cherry blossoms of spring were falling gently, and the whole scene looked like it was something from an anime. The school grounds were full if propaganda stands advertising for various clubs and teams. I had no interest in any of it. The less I had to do with anything; he less likely it would be that I would have to be discovered. My disguise was perfect and I knew everything about my brother. Yet I was so nervous, I wanted to go home and tell my parents everything. However the thought of being under house arrest was not promising, and deterred me from that idea.

"Stupid Jiro."

Then I took my first step into the world of high school. Although it felt like a big event to me, which involved the words 'fate,' 'destiny,' and 'lifetime,' no one took any notice of me at all. Inwardly chastising myself for worrying so much, I hurdled myself into the mass of students.

Almost immediately I was swamped with pamphlets for several student organizations, teams, and clubs. All giving promises of activities that were exciting and with assurances of making new friends. Giving halfhearted thanks and smiles; I shouldered my way through the crowd.

"Basketball! Basketball! How'd you like to join the basketball club?" A boy of medium height and brown hair eagerly handed my yet snort flier displaying a huge basketball in the middle. Like all the others, I took it without thinking. Of course I had no intention of telling him I had no interest in joining, or I'd have to listen to a very unnecessary explanation of how awesome it was.

Before I could move on, another boy with black hair and dark eyes said, "Kogani, you can't be serious."

"What?! How else am I supposed to say it?" Complained the one who'd given me a pamphlet.

With an all-knowing look, the second boy replied rather smugly, "New kids, join the basketball club. We are in need of some serious help." This was followed by a disgusted look from his friend.

"Enough of your jokes, Izuki." Then he called to a third member of the recruiting party. "Mi tone, make sure they hear you!"

Mitobe just smiled and continued quietly handing out fliers to anyone who passed.

The first of the boys, Kogani, looked put out, and muttered, "you're not going to do it are you?"

Before they could continue, I pushed on. I wanted to get the day over with as quickly as possible, so I could go back to my apartment, and to being a girl again. Already my wig was starting to itch.

At first, my brother had suggested I cut my long orange hair, but I as opposed to the very idea of it. It had taken years to grow it out long enough to style it the way I wanted, so instead of cutting it, I had purchased a wig. Unfortunately the price of my perfect hair was the constant discomfort the wig provided.

Stupid Jiro.

I was so lost in thought, I barely heard someone call out, "Hey, you!" Not realizing the unfamiliar voice I continued walking. Then a hand grabbed shoulder and spun me around. "Would you stop when someone is talking to you?"

A very tall boy was standing in front of me looking very grumpy and impatient. He was about six feet and three inches and had dark red hair and fiery eyes. He must have been a full six inches taller then me, and probably weighed fifty pounds more too. It wasn't just hi appearance that was intimidating; his whole auto was like that of a wild animal.

My first instinct was that he recognized me and was about to accuse me of being a phony. But I'd had enough experience in situations like this, to act normal, because most of the time it was just my paranoia kicking in.

"Ah, sorry." I replied to the towering stranger. "I thought you were calling someone else."

"Whatever." The red head said impatiently.

I scowled inwardly at his rude manner, which was pissing my off. "Do you want something?" I asked matching his tone of impatience. Two could play at this game. Although the real Jiro would have ignored it and politely continued. But Jiro wasn't here. I was, and most guys would have taken the strangers arrogant attitude as a challenge anyway.

However my reaction didn't seem to bother the man in front of me. "Yeah, do you know where the basketball team is?"

For a second I thought about lying to him, just for my own personal revenge against his attitude, but looking at him I realized he was probably a very good basketball played with his height and obvious strength. One of the recruiters from earlier had also mentioned they needed some serious help. Even if I did lie, this asshole would probably go harass someone else. I sighed inwardly and pointed back the way I'd come. "I don't know where the sign up table is, but there were some guys recruiting over there. They are probably still around."

The red headed stranger turned around and almost like an after thought, waved his hand over his shoulder. "Thanks." He said, before disappearing into the crowd.

Good luck to the poor souls who have to deal with that monster, I thought to myself. Hopefully I'd never have to see the guy again. To bad I'd had to meet such a rude, arrogant bastard in the first place.

"Stupid Jiro." I said for the millionth time that morning.


End file.
